Helmed by cofounders and creative directors Zach Goodwin and Maggie Winters, Washington, DC–based ad agency This January believes in championing the “exceptional weirdos”—in the cofounders’ words—who make each project better than the last. “We believe in four things,” say Goodwin and Winters. “One, we don’t care if you went to college; we care if you’re the absolute best at what you do. Two, everything in the world is a work in progress. Nothing’s ever perfect or complete, not even the company itself. Three, we make work that works. ‘Pretty’ is pretty unimportant if it doesn’t work. Four, it’s not magic: it’s the 29th try.” With a design-first approach inspired by Massimo Vignelli’s ethos that anything can be designed, This January works in all kinds of media for its clients, from spots for talent development company Revature to OOH posters for the International Spy Museum to packaging for psilocybin brand Mistercap’s mushrooms. It also doesn’t shy away from wanting to change bad industry practices, as Goodwin and Winters ensure This January’s team doesn’t work on weekends nor tolerate problematic workplace behavior. “We hope to build the kind of agency that makes people believe in agencies again,” Goodwin and Winters say. “After so many years of the advertising industry lamenting, well, the industry, we know we can do better for the work we love so dearly.”